Week 6 & Global Transformations

This week's reading from Global Transformations was difficult in that it didn't have direct ties to our topic. But here are a few thoughts:

1) The first chapter of Global Transformations emphasizes the metamorphosis from the empire paradigm to the nation-state paradigm which is then followed up with the second chapter where Held et al. discusses the post-Cold war shift to globalization specifically in the military realm. In regards to global health crises, although AIDS has affected every nation in the world in some way or another, it has not stirred up an international response (or at least to my knowledge). Each nation seems to be trying to address the issue at the national level, not the international. The UN and its MDGs may be a step in the right direction, but I've seen little government to government collaboration with regards to AIDS.

International law is oriented to the establishment of minimal rules of coexistence;the creation of enduring relationships among states and peoples is an aim, but only to the extent that it allows state objectives to be met.

Responsibility for cross-border wrongful acts is a 'private matter' concerning only those affected. (Held et al, Global Transformations, 1999. 38.)

Although a stretch to consider AIDS as a "cross-border wrongful act," the principle remains: The 17th/18th century European 'society of states' model still has lingering effects on foreign policy today.

2) Related to the first point, the national border lines seem to be a strong force against international cooperation in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Exact borders have been gradually fixed. Postwar decolonization was especially important to this process. (Ibid., 45.)

Where is the global economy when it comes to global health crises? Where is the international community?

Officials in many ministries today find it extremely difficult to decided what is and what is not a domestic matter. (Ibid., 55.)

This may be true with economics or governmental instability or military proliferation, but with AIDS, the urgency doesn't seem to translate.

3) I don't know how this would affect our wiki, but the gaining success of the EU and the "pooled sovereignty" model of governance could be a macro-level solution that is beyond our control to provide tools to combat the disease. Global Transformations seems to take a very tentative approach to evaluating the successes and failures of the EU, but that may be because of the date of its publishing. In the six years since it was published, the EU has expanded beyond the four countries mentioned, established economic clout with the gaining power of the Euro, and has thus, undoubtably flourished.

Could we see the international treaty organizations mentioned in Global Transformations such has NATO, ASEAN, OAU, and OAS take the EU's lead and form a regional perspective on governance rather than a nationalistic one? That is, could we see national borders as we think of them now be replaced by regional borders. And could that then change the face of "domestic" policy making thus, affecting the fight against AIDS?